bad battery or what=??

99 sedan had the emergency flashers on for 30 minutes. battery died. car would not start. horn would not sound,etc. Then 3 hours later car started . Then next morning car barely started. took car to Advance Car Parts. they said battery was ok(voltage = 12.96). next day car would not turn over. took battery to Advance. they put it on slow charger for 5 hours. and said battery ok(voltage = 12.84). a few hours later car would not start. took battery to Sam,s Club and got a new battery(free,on warranty). now crossing fingers till tomorrow. question == is it true that you can not jump start a escort and expect the battery to charge itself by driving along the interstate for one hour? these cars need to trickle charge over night.the alternator can not charge a dead battery.

It sounds like you had a bad battery. The alternator on these cars will maintain a battery but will not recharge a dead battery. If the battery goes dead you should use a charger to recharge it and then start the car. I would check the alternator output while the car is running. If you get less than 13-14 volts the alternator is not charging properly and may need replaced. The alternator on my 99 went out and the battery light came on. It was only putting out about 12.9 volts. It could maintain all the systems but was not enough to maintain the battery too. I replaced it and have not had any other issues.

yes. it appears the battery was a fault. started it several times this morning and it cranked instantly,(as usual). car has about 124,000 miles. that,s what had me suspecting perhaps the alternator was freaking out. btw = no warning lights appeared on the dash at any time. advance parts manager said there,s alot of newer cars that you need to charge the battery on a charger. those alternators will not charge their cars dead battery. it will only maintain the strength of a good battery. thanks for the reply.

My Escort has 292,000 miles on it and has the original alternator. An alternator only has one purpose-to charge the battery. I've never heard of an alternator that would not charge a good battery.:confused:

I think there is no reason that an alternator couldn't charge up a dead battery unless the battery is bad and unable to hold a charge. The alternator feeds it power just like a charger does... an hour of driving should bring it back to life.

As for this problem, it is possible to still have voltage in the battery but not have enough amps to turn the starter. Once under load, the battery failed.

I won't get into an argument with anyone about this but an alternator will not recharge a dead battery. It is designed to maintain a good battery but if one is dead it will not recharge. You must connect it to a charger to bring it back to life. I learned this from a battery supplier many years ago. Many a good battery has met an unfortunate end due to people failing to recharge them appropriately. If you try to recharge one with a battery charger and it will not take a charge or it dies shortly thereafter the battery is no good and needs to be replaced.

The purpose of your alternator is to run the electrical system on your car. The battery's purpose is to start the car and run the lights etc. when the car is not running. That is why you can disconnect a battery while the car is running and it will keep on running.

I agree. If the battery is completely discharged or nearly so, the alternator won't bring it back to life. I don't mean to second guess anybody, but the battery could be shorted out by sediment at the bottom of the case. It could have the right voltaage, but fail under a load.